Columns

The oldtimers I knew might say there was a lot of “caming” and “wenting” in our mountains during the Fourth of July festivities. Neighbors down the road sent fireworks high into the sky after dark, and they were both festive and sparkly.

I was glad my dear old dog, Casey, was in dog heaven. She hated any and all loud noises as many dogs do. Yes, the weather was perfect for this holiday.

Strictly as a joke, I recently wrote to some Facebook friends that I was considering returning to full-time teaching. Why?

To save time, which I’ll explain in a few graphs below.

The career move would be iffy — especially for one who gave up the tweed jacket with leather elbow patches about 16 years ago. Would I even stand a chance, given that Latino professors with doctoral degrees have become more plentiful lately.

Those who protect us should not have to be protected. When law enforcement is protecting the rights of others to assemble, they should not become targets. The issue isn’t whether law enforcement agrees or not with the views of those they are protecting. The issue is they should not become victims for protecting freedoms of others that comes with being in America.

Think all the killings by cops making news these days are exclusive to urban areas? Think again. Here in New Mexico, we’ve had at least five so far this year, and unless I’m missing something, not one in Albuquerque this year.

A young man, who left his studies at a Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, came to live in Las Vegas around the time I entered Immaculate Conception High School.

Frank Reesor, who died in his 40s, became my next-door neighbor, and more importantly, an older brother who spent time with me discussing religion, morality and maturity. We hit it off well when we discussed the deity, but on another subject: chile, we differed.

Every marriage relationship can be improved. It doesn’t matter if you have been married for one month or 40 years, whether it is your first marriage or your third, whether you are 18 or 62. There is something you can do to better meet the needs of the one you have pledged your life to.

I know extended members of my family will be here in about a month or so, and some of them have never been on this more-or-less isolated old ranch. Oh, yes, we have a lot to show them!

Some might argue that one should never cut down a tree. Well, we all know a garden needs to be weeded, and a forest is just a very large extension of a garden. The thinning projects in our nearby forests are remarkable examples of how necessary this is. Sadly the state and national forests that border our land are not thinned, so when or if a fire starts, it will be catastrophic.

Gov. Susana Martinez is in a precarious position, and soon enough she’ll have to take a stand on the question of Donald Trump.

As chair of the Republican Governors Association and the nation’s first and only Hispanic female governor, her endorsement would mean a lot to the presumptive Republican nominee. But he’s done nothing to deserve it, and I think she, along with a lot of New Mexicans, knows it.